About

Town Center 4th edition

$32,314

pledged of $10,000 goal

607

backers

Town Center has been through a lot. It has been done in tiny 10mm cubes, in Lego bricks, in big 16mm cubes, even in giant 30mm cubes. Now, it is time for the game to reach its full potential, and be published for all to enjoy building their city, growing it to become a mini-metropolis.

Town Center could be the best adaptation of a city-sim computer game, *and* a fun, challenging board game in its own right.

With your support, we have the opportunity to create a living game that fulfills Alban's vision for everything this fine specimen of European game design can be.

In this page you will find the following:

The Game

Our Goal

Your Rewards

Stretch Rewards

Shipping & Fulfillment

Backer Updates

Thanks!

Town Center was not built in a day. However, it takes seconds to learn, and yet it can be quite the challenge to win.

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Replay with sound

Play with sound

00:00

00:00

1. Draft buildings

2. Build them into your city

3. Develop properties

That's it! 10 turns, this is all you have to build and grow your newly-chartered town into a skyscraper-filled metropolis.

There's many decisions to be made, but they all come in 16mm-sized bits, with no downtime between turns, as there's always something to do. Before you know it, your opponents have reached the sky, and you're still trying to figure out where that parking lot will go!

RULES

The rulebook can be downloaded here (2 MB, right click and Save as...).

Please
download this file, as PDFs viewed in-browser may not display properly.
This file is the low-resolution file, as the full resolution file is
large. The final rulebook will have crisp textures and high detail.

Keep
in mind, that the rulebook may still go through changes and additions.
For example, the credits & acknowledgements are not there yet.

(Rules in French & German are currently being edited)

The game will be in a box big enough to fit the 123 large cubes (16mm) as well as the four player boards, the new central income/score/player aid board, and leaving space for expansions.

NOTE: You need two copies of Town Center to play with more than 4 players. See the FAQ section for more.

TRY THE GAME!

You can also play the solo version of the game there, to quickly understand just how involved it can become and see if it is for you.

REVIEWS

Even though the game has been reviewed a few times in some form or another, we asked the some people you may have heard of to take a look at the game.

Rahdo runs through Town Center... again!

A Drive Thru Preview from Joel:

For our german-speaking friends, here's the nice people at Cliquenabend.de:

Thanks also to 5mpj.es for a thorough playthrough in spanish:

Ironically for a french-designed game, we were not able to get a french-language video out yet. Nous sommes désolés!

Disclaimers:

No money was exchanged in return for these videos.

We supplied free copies of the previous edition of Town Center so that there was something to be filmed.

We backed Joel Eddy's campaign, but the resulting video will be for an upcoming, unpublished game, not Town Center.

We aim to raise $10,000, which will allow us to run a limited print run. We have already invested a substantial amount of time and money in graphic upgrades, and plan to do more to expand the world of Town Center.

Here's how this version differs from the previous one:

A bigger box that now fits all the cubes comfortably, and has space for expansions.

A bigger rulebook, in separate languages, now with updated rules, including rules for up to 8 players to play together by combining two sets of the game.

16 player cubes in 8 colors in each box to allow for games with more than 4 players, by combining 2 copies of Town Center.

Revamped player maps with wider streets that are compatible with future planned expansions.

Added central board with a track around it, a simpler method to track income and points.

Improved player aid that now includes Phase V phase and more detail in Phase I explanation.

Doubled the size of the cloth bag - now all cubes can all be stored in it without spilling out, and there's space for enough cubes for 5-8 players to be pulled from it.

Would you like another copy?

Town Center has always been a game for 1-4 players. When we started working on the 4th edition, we asked Alban why was the game limited to 4, and he answered with rules for up to 8 players. The only difference is in Phase I, as you can see in the rules document.

Unfortunately, the 5-8 player experience is not possible with just one copy of the game, as the weight and size of the cubes is substantial, and it would get in the way of fulfillment.

So, if your game nights attract these numbers, you can get a second copy of the game - you will probably need the added box space to hold all the expansions that we hope to publish, which include map, cube and even tile expansions.

However, as described in the FAQ section, as well as in the first backer update, the structure of Kickstarter and the nature of our logistics do not allow us to offer an add-on. So, to obtain a second copy, you have to use a separate Kickstarter account. All copies will be sent separately, and you will get all stretch rewards twice as well.

OUR VIEW ON STRETCHING

After achieving our goal, we'd like to keep making the game better. However, that wouldn't work if we wanted to continue to offer the game at the cheapest cost possible - we'd have to add "hidden" profit in the pledge levels, that we can then "spend" to give you stretch goals to get excited about.

We don't do that. No BS. We give you the game at the lowest possible cost. We also do not take anything out of the game, just to add it back as a stretch goal later. Therefore, raising money beyond our goal does not give us
extra money on hand to create stretch goals.

Furthermore, because the games are made in Europe, and because we do small print runs, we do not benefit by economies of scale by producing more copies of the game.

Thus, reaching any significant funding level will trigger a locking down of the current pledge level, and the posting of a new, higher pledge level, so as to allow us to have money to make improvements. Any such increase will be equal to about 50% of the post-campaign cost - i.e. even if you backed later, you would get the extra components at half-price (and would not pay shipping either). Earlier backers will of course be getting them even cheaper. So, if getting a deal is important to you, subscribe to the newsletter, and back earlier, rather than later.

Basically, as the value of the game goes up, and as our costs increase, so does the cost of pledging.

WHAT'S THE PLAN?

There's more than a few things we'd like to do with the base game, and a couple more expansions we'd like to add to this campaign. We will announce these goals as the campaign progresses, and we are able to find out what priorities backers have.

ADDED:

Firstly, we'd like to upgrade the cardboard from 1mm to the highest
possible thickness (2 mm), allowing for sturdy, long-lasting boards that
do not move around. We do not expect this to cause an increase in the pledge reward level.

Secondly, we'll try to make all boards double-sided. This means that each of the player boards will have an alternate city plan to play with, and the central board will have the "Central Park" solo board that was only ever printed on a t-shirt! The Lower Manhattan expansion map that every backer gets for free (10 EUR/13 USD later) will also become double-sided, with the Paris map on its reverse!

Central Park: ADDED!

Paris: ADDED! (on the reverse of the Lower Manhattan board)

Double-sided player boards: DONE!

Finally, we would like to add more content, and make backing the campaign even more of a deal - in quality - for you. Alban has developed a number of expansion maps, all based on real cities and towns, and each adding a unique twist on the game. We will not make much more of these than we need for the campaign, and we are not planning to make them available through distribution. They will cost 10 EUR / 13 USD after the campaign.

WE MAKE GAMES, NOT STRETCH GOALS

We will not let this campaign be derailed by "stretch goal madness", that will inhibit us from delivering the game as promised and in a timely manner. Our priority is bringing this game out to the world, and this is already accomplished if we reach our initial goal.

If stretch goals (or the lack thereof) are more important to you than helping us create a quality board game, then this is not the campaign you are looking for.

Furthermore, any added rewards we give out will be focused on quality, not quantity. We will measure our success by how much joy we can spread by this game, not by the percentage by which we surpass the funding goal for this campaign.

If you intend to attend Spiel 2014 in Essen, you may instead choose to pick your game up at the fair, along with 5 EUR in cash.

All rewards will be shipped from Germany. Our primary shipping provider is Deutsche Post/DHL.

EU backers do not have to worry about customs or VAT.

As some our our past USA backers know, we've had trouble finding a reliable partner for local fulfillment, and we are still considering our options. If we do find a company that can provide that, we will hire them.

Shipments to worldwide backers will have 35 EUR declared as the value of the package. That's roughly equivalent to 52.54 CAD / 53.18 AUD / 42.78 CHF / 4895.85 JPY, and should be under the threshold that triggers customs duties in most countries.

Risks and challenges

We have fulfilled all of the rewards for our Gear & Piston and Byzantio / Nekken campaigns, and the rewards for Among the Stars: The Ambassadors have been shipped by Artipia as well. The Boardgames That Tell Stories book is in the final stages of production, and the campaigns for Gear & Piston: The Americans and Byzantio / Nekken: Event Set I are about to be fulfilled. We are working with a manufacturer we have worked with before, and we are confident in our ability to deliver the game and any stretch goals. That said, unforeseen events may affect how quickly fulfillment is conducted, and the final graphics and components that you see presented here are subject to (however improbable) change. We will be exhibiting at Essen, and it is very likely that some backers, or others may have the game in hand before you do. Please do not use Town Center for urban planning, architectural design or structural studies. Significant Nutella consumption may lead to feelings of euphoria, irrational behavior, and an increase in bodily displacement. If you are reading this far, there's a risk that you are very bored - please go play a board game.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 200 or more
About US$ 200

TODD & THE CITY (Worldwide)

(144,14 EUR) INCLUSIONS:

1.Town Center.

2. All stretch rewards.

3. Shipping worldwide.

4. Todd Sanders will work with you (3 iterations) to illustrate a custom map of your town or city, including landmarks and unique features, and deliver a high-res digital file suitable for printing on canvas or a poster.

See Backer Update #5 for details.

To be the first to know about future campaigns, sign up at ludicreations.com/newsletter.

Pledge US$ 55 or more
About US$ 55

This pledge level will only be available until any stretch goals that make it necessary to lock it are reached. This is how we can afford to add more to the game, while still making it available at the lowest possible cost.